The LaRouche network

Institution Analysis

cHefitageCFoundatioti *

No.

28

The Heritage Foundation • 513 C Street • N.E. • Washington, DC. • 20002 • (202) 546-4400

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July 19, 1984

THE LAROUCHE NETWORK

INTRODUCTION*

While most Americans would readily list the names Hart,
Mondale, and Jackson as among this year's contenders for the
Democratic Party's presidential nomination, viewers of late-night
television might also mention the name Lyndon H. LaRouche . Since
the onset of the primary season in January, LaRouche has been
featured in a series of periodic, late-night television broad-
casts promoting his candidacy, and his bizarre political and
economic theories .

Billing himself as a "conservative Democrat" LaRouche has
regaled his audience with predictions of imminent disaster that
can only be averted through his leadership. Coupled with his
ominous forecasts of catastrophes that range from "global thermo-
nuclear war" to worldwide economic collapse have been his wild
assertions that individuals such as Henry Kissinger and Lt. Gen
Daniel Graham are "Soviet agents of influence." What makes such
claims particularly ironic is that this "conservative Democrat"
was in fact a self-proclaimed Communist, who once called himself

the American Lenin,"1 who helped found the violence-prone U.S.
Labor Party, and who leads what may well be one of the strangest
political groups in American history.

Gregory Rose, "The Swarmy Life and Times of the NCLC , " National Review
March 30, 1978. '

Also see Francis Watson, "U.S. Labor Party," Heritage Foundation Institu-
tion Analysis No. 7, June 1978.

THE LAROUCHE NETWORK

Emerging from within the Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS) during the late 1960s, LaRouche has managed to attract a
small, but fanatical following to his conspiratorial view of the
world. Despite their small numbers (estimated at from one to
three thousand), he has managed to fashion them into a surpris-
ingly broad network of organizations that not only encompasses
many major cities in the U.S., but which extends to Europe and
Latin America as well.

Although all of the groups, at their core, adhere to LaRouche" s
ideology, which holds that a "super elite"--including such dis-
parate elements as the Rockefeller family, the British Royal
Family, the Anti -Defamation League, the Soviet KGB, National Review,
and The Heritage Foundation — controls world events, many are set
up ostensibly as academic or charitable organizations. The use
of various fronts has been among the LaRouche network's most suc-
cessful tactics, enabling it to attract unwitting, well-intentioned
citizens to its cause. While these individuals generally break
any connection as soon as they realize the real nature of LaRouche ' s
organizations, in some cases longer term relationships are estab-
lished.

Even innocent individuals who do not directly participate in
LaRouche-sponsored activities often end up unwitting financial
supporters of the network through airport purchases or subscrip-
tions to LaRouche publications. Hawked by clean-cut young people
manning tables with signs that carry slogans such as "Feed Jane
Fonda To The Whales," magazines like the slick Executive Intelli-
gence Review (EIR), Fusion, The Young Scientist, and CampaignerT
are a major source of funds. In fact, some estimates of combined
airport and subscription sales put the annual revenue LaRouche
generates this way at as much as $3 million.

Because the LaRouche network contains such a large and
ever-changing list of political organizations, publications, and
business enterprises, it is useful to categorize the network's
elements into three groups: publications and publishing enter-
prises, political groups, and businesses. A list of current and
former elements of the network includes:

Political Groups

The National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC)

The International Caucus of Labor Committees (ICLC)

The National Democratic Policy Committee

The Fusion Energy Foundation (FEF)

The Lafayette Academy for the Arts and Sciences

The Humanist Academy

The LaRouche Campaign (TLC)

The U.S. Labor Party (dormant)

The National Anti-Drug Coalition

The Club of Life

The Revolutionary Youth Movement

The National Unemployed and Welfare Rights Organization (NUWRO)

The International Workingman ' s Association (IWA)

The Labor Organizer's Defense Fund

The Committee for a Fair Election (CFE) (dormant)

Publications and Publishing Enteprises

New Solidarity (a newspaper)

New Solidarity International Press Service (NSIPS)

Fusion Magazine

International Journal of Fusion

Executive Intelligence Review (EIR)

Investigative Leads (an EIR spin-off)

War on Drugs

The Young Scientist

The New Benjamin Franklin House Publishing Company

Campaigner Magazine

Campaigner publications

American Labor Beacon (reported to be currently

in the hands Of dissident members of the network)

NSIPS Speakers Bureau

Business Enterprises

Computron Technologies (now bankrupt)
Computype (a financial printing firm)
World Composition Services
PMR Printing Company, Inc.

ACCESS TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS

A major concern regarding the LaRouche network arises from
its apparent ability to penetrate high government circles--
especially within the intelligence and police communities. This
ability was underscored by a documentary which aired earlier this
year as part of the NBC newsmagazine "First Camera." The broad-
cast featured, among others, Dr. Norman Bailey, a former member
of the National Security Council Staff. In the press release
announcing the program NBC stated that Dr. Bailey "spoke of
LaRouche 's value to the Administration."2 Moreover, reports by
former members3 of the LaRouche network indicate that it main-
tained regular and frequent contacts with officials of the Depart-
ment of State, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and even the
Central Intelligence Agency. While some of these claims may be
overstated, and some of the contacts may have been low-level or
self-generated, the potential for security breaches and other
problems arising from such relationships remains very real. A
recent incident in France illustrates this point.

NBC Press Release dated March 4, 1984,
Information Digest , March 30, 1978.

A minor furor erupted earlier this year following the dis-
closure of a confidential French Cabinet memorandum by LaRouche
followers there. The memo, which ironically was intended to warn
French officials about possible ties between the LaRouche network
and Moscow, had been circulated to less than a dozen top people
within the French Cabinet. After obtaining the document, LaRouche
followers published it as part of a full-page newspaper advertise-
ment. Although the document's contents were a minor embarrassment,
what was of real concern was the fact that to have access to it,
the leaker also had to have had access to a wide range of sensitive
material, including defense information.

In addition to gaining access to official circles, the
LaRouche network frequently has succeeded in insinuating its
followers into positions with organizations it sees as part of
the worldwide conspiracy. One of the most celebrated incidents
involved a secretary who was a network member working for the
Council on Foreign Relations. In the course of her normal duties,
she worked at least part of the time for William P. Bundy, editor
of their prestigious journal, Foreign Affairs. She even attended
the super-secret Bilderberg meeting, a meeting which includes
much of the world's business and foreign policy elite, with him
and had access to its proceedings.4

What puzzles most casual observers of the LaRouche operation
is just what it is that the organization really stands for, and
what it is that it wants. Depending on the moment and the issue,
LaRouche can appear to be ultra left wing, ultra right wing, or
somewhere in between. There are, however, certain themes that
run consistently through his network's ideology. Among them are
a virulent anti-Semitism, 5 a belief that world events are guided
by a conspiracy aimed at eventually causing a new "Dark Ages,"
and that Lyndon H. LaRouche is the only individual who has the
insight to prevent this calamity from overtaking mankind. The
question to be asked then is: Who is Lyndon LaRouche?

WHO IS LYNDON LAROUCHE?

Born of Quaker parents in Rochester, New Hampshire in 1922,
LaRouche spent most of his formative years in Lynn, Massachusetts.
Initially a conscientious objector during World War II, LaRouche
had an apparent change of heart while performing alternative
service, and subsequently served in the Army in Burma and India.
It was also at this time that LaRouche was first attracted to
communist ideology.

Paul Blum and Paul Montgomery, "One Man Leads U.S. Labor Party on Its
Erratic March," The New York Times , October 8, 1979.

In October 1980, New York State Supreme Court Justice Michael Dontzin held
that the Anti-Defamation League's characterization of a LaRouche Group as
anti-Semitic constituted "fair comment," and that the facts presented in
the case "reasonably give rise" to such characterization

After leaving the service, LaRouche surfaced in 1948 as a
member of the Socialist Workers Party, a Trotskyite communist
group. Although he left the SWP in 1957, he continued to be
active in communist circles, and supported himself by working as
a management consultant and systems analyst. During the late
1960s, LaRouche was listed as a faculty member at several of the
Marxist "alternative schools" which sprang up at the time, using
the name "Lynn Marcus." In June 1968, LaRouche became active
with the radical Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), teach-
ing a course at their "Summer Liberation School" organized at
Columbia University. From this, he was able to assume a leader-
ship role in the SDS Labor Committee which eventually evolved
into the National Caucus of Labor Committees.

During a dispute over support of striking teachers in New
York City, LaRouche split with the SDS leadership by taking a
position on behalf of the strikers, and broke off the NCLC from
the SDS. This group, which remains in existence today, formed
the core of what would become the LaRouche network.

Although LaRouche publicly eschews violence, over the years
members have been charged with a variety of offenses, including
assault, possession of weapons, possession of explosives, and kid-
napping. There have, however, been few convictions.

In 1973 LaRouche undertook "Operation Mop Up," as a means of
consolidating his hold on what was a de facto attempt to' take full
control of the U.S. Communist Party. Operation Mop Up was initi-
ated after LaRouche returned from an extended trip to Europe, and
took place during Spring 1973. During this action, more than 60
incidents of violence took place, with some victims of LaRouche' s
forces requiring hospital treatment. Ironically, according to
published reports, it was this move towards violence that cemented
LaRouche' s leadership of the U.S. Labor Party, and helped to
increase its membership and coffers.

ATTEMPTS TO ESTABLISH TIES WITH CONSERVATIVES

In 1974, the LaRouche network began an active campaign to
establish links with conservative groups. An internal memorandum
written at the time stated "Right wing organizations offer four
opportunities: 1) Sources of fund raising related to our organiz-
ing, 2) Political contacts to circulate our perspectives in
anti-Rocky political financial military circles, 3) opportunity
to expose and discredit Rocky 's Buckley-FBI-CIA penetration of
the right, 4) potential USLP members and periphery."6 The "Rocky"
refers to the late Nelson Rockefeller, while the Buckley is
William F. Buckley, editor of National Review.

Rose, op. cit

In making contacts in the conservative and business communi-
ties, fronts like the National Anti-Drug Coalition and Fusion
Energy Foundation were particularly valuable. The slick publica-
tion Executive Intelligence Review was also aimed at this audience

Typically, USLP members would approach conservatives or
businessmen by appealing to their concerns over issues such as
economic growth, nuclear power, or drug use. They would then try
to solicit a donation for one of the LaRouche fronts declaiming
on these issues, or ask for other assistance. Throughout the
1970s the LaRouche network was particularly successful in obtain-
ing financial support for the Fusion Energy Foundation from the
business community, in the form of direct contributions and sub-
scriptions to FEF's slick magazine Fusion.

Its most successful publication, however, seems to be
Executive Intelligence Review, with a claimed circulation of
10,000. The Review deals with a wide range of topics, but fre-
quently focuses on security matters and terrorism. The magazine's
success in attracting readers for such material gave rise to the
creation of a spin-off newsletter "Investigative Leads," which is
specifically targeted at law enforcement officials.

While in most cases LaRouche ' s attempts to work directly
with conservatives and business groups have been short-lived, his
network has had considerable success in selling their high-priced
publications to this audience. At a subscription rate of $400
per year, Executive Intelligence Review's 10,000 claimed sub-
scribers would garner revenues of $4 million annually. Thus,
often without realizing it, the magazine's subscribers are sup-
porting the LaRouche network's other activities.

Another means by which the LaRouche network establishes
links to business is through the operation of commercial firms
that specialize in printing services and computer software. Some
of America's largest corporations have been unknowing clients of
LaRouche-controlled companies, and some of his followers are
reported to hold high-level postions with at least one major
manufacturer of small computers. Included among the firms linked
to LaRouche are Computron Technologies Inc., The New Benjamin
Franklin- House Publishing Company, World Composition Services,
and PMR Printing Company.

ANTI-SEMITISM AND TIES WITH HATE GROUPS

One of the most disturbing turns in the path of LaRouche ' s
ideology has been his incorporation of strong anti-Semitic themes
into the grand conspiracy he claims steers world events. As part
of this move, LaRouche has established ties with organizations
which promote racial hatred and anti-Semitism, including the Ku
Klux Klan and the Liberty Lobby.7

Ibid.

In promulgating these themes, LaRouche has made claims that
Jewish organizations and prominent members of the Jewish community
are linked to the international drug trade, that they deal in
pornography, and are linked to international terrorism and criminal
violence. According to reports,8 LaRouche even alleged in a
radio interview that the Ku Klux Klan was founded on behalf of
B'nai B'rith, and has stated that he found a "kernal of truth" in
the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion, "9 one of the most vicious
anti-Semitic fabrications in history.

In addition, according to the Anti-Defamation League, LaRouche
and his followers have alleged that "Jews were largely responsible
for bringing Hitler to power, and that the Nazi Holocaust is one
of the hoaxes produced by the Zionist demagog."10 He also has
saved particular venom for the Anti -Defamation League itself,
labeling the organization "Britain's Zionist Gestapo."11

The move by the LaRouche network to establish links with
hatemongers dates from 1974. At that time, the. National Caucus
of Labor Committees was the primary vehicle for LaRouche ' s fol-
lowers. In September of that year, the NCLC made contact with
Ken Duggan, publisher of The Illuminator, a racist and anti-
Semitic magazine. Through Duggan, according to an account
published by an ex-LaRouche follower in National Review, LaRouche
was introduced to a number of individuals associated with anti-
Semitic or racist groups including Roy Frankhouser, a leader of
the Pennsylvania Ku Klux Klan, and Willis Carto of the Liberty
Lobby. From then on, anti-Semitism became an increasing component
of LaRouche' s overall conspiracy theory.

What makes the hatemongering aspect of the LaRouche network
a serious concern is that the organization has had a history of
violence, and has even had some of its members undergo paramili-
tary training. Over the years, LaRouche followers have been
charged with — although infrequently convicted of—criminal acts
including assault, kidnapping, possession of weapons, and pos-
session of explosives. Moreover, LaRouche generally travels with
armed bodyguards, and is reported to keep armed guards outside
his New York apartment. The potential to turn the network's
proclivity for violence against a specific racial or ethnic
group is real.

LAROUCHE AND THE PRESIDENCY

It is LaRouche 's attempts to gain the U.S. presidency, more
than anything else, that have brought him into the public eye.

9

10
1 1

Information Digest, op. cit.

Anti-Defamation League handbook on extremist groups.

Ibid.

"The LaRouche Network: A Political Cult," ADL Facts, Spring 1982.

Hxs first attempt was in 1976 when he ran under the U.S. Labor
Party's banner. Although he got on the ballot in 24 states, he
polled only 43,043 votes. Still, this campaign give rise to one
of the odder political match-ups in U.S. political history: a
joint suit charging election fraud entered into by a coalition of
the U.S. Labor Party, elements of the Republican Party, and some
members of the American Party.

The dismal 1976 showing may have convinced LaRouche of the
futility of running on a third-party ticket. Thus when he ran in
1980, he did so as a Democrat. On the ballot in some 16 states,
LaRouche polled 185,000 votes and qualified for $526,000 in
federal matching campaign funds. However, a subsequent ruling by
the Federal Election Commission (FEC) held that LaRouche' s failure
to win at least 10 percent of the vote in two successive primaries
disqualified him from eligibility for matching funds after April
17, 1980, requiring the organization to return $110,618. This
decision was appealed, and in March 1982, the federal court
barred the FEC from conducting additional investigations until
the one under way was completed. In November 1982, Citizens for
LaRouche reached a settlement with the FEC, admitting to a variety
of violations of the Campaign Financing Act, including the submis-
sion of "false or misleading information" to the FEC.

After the 1980 campaign, LaRouche established the National
Democratic Policy Committee as a vehicle for his and his. followers '
candidacies. Claiming 2,600 members, the NDPC is a source of
considerable dismay within the Democratic National Committee,
with which it is often confused. It also indicates LaRouche ' s
new strategy, which is to represent himself as a "conservative
Democrat." In fact, it is merely the successor of the now defunct
U.S. Labor Party as LaRouche ' s political arm.

A number of state and local candidates have been fielded
from within the NDPC's ranks over the past several years. Included
among them are Mel Klenetsky, LaRouche ' s campaign manager, who
ran for Mayor of New York, and William Wertz who ran for the U.S.
Senate from California in 1982.

Often running unopposed for seats on local party committees,
or for offices where the other party's candidate would be unop-
posed, LaRouche followers are becoming a more frequent presence
on ballots around the nation. And their effort at the polls is
not limited to the U.S. During last year's West German Bundestag
elections, Helga Zepp LaRouche, wife of the network's founder, ran
unsuccessfully as a candidate. The thrust of all of these electoral
efforts, however, is to boost LaRouche ' s perceived credibility as
a major political influence. This is perhaps as important for
LaRouche in terms of maintaining his hold over his followers as
for giving him any real effectiveness within the political process.

WHAT DOES LAROUCHE WANT?

In trying to determine just who Lyndon LaRouche is, and what
it is that he wants, a confused picture emerges. On the one

hand, his known links to hate groups might place him beyond the
respectable political spectrum; yet his continuing advocacy of
communism would tend to place him at the far left. To further
confuse matters, he has recently taken to attacking the Soviet
KGB, and accusing various individuals of being "Soviet agents of
influence" or KGB moles, while at the same time taking positions
which in the end advance Soviet foreign policy goals. Some
insight into the possible motivations behind LaRouche 's seemingly
^Vil±C^ae°}02XCal shifts can be gained from a March 1979 expose
of thlt rou PartY Written by Gre<?ory ^se, a former member

Writing in National Review, Rose noted that LaRouche main-
tained contact with the Soviet government through Gennady
?i iTV-ch Serebreyakov, an official with the Soviet Mission to
the U.N in New York. Moreover, LaRouche himself was reported to
have met with Serebreyakov at least twice. Rose reports that
after these meetings, "The NCLC's Trotskyite line was replaced
with a pro-Soviet line." More important, he speculates that "The
« tt cS in/ P°sltlon to Promote a pro-Soviet line on such issues
as U.S. defense posture within certain conservative circles
whereas the Soviets could not make such an approach directly it
is equally obvious that information on conservative attitudes and
personalities gained from NCLC contacts would be helpful to
Soviet intelligence."

Rose concludes "...the evidence of a Soviet connection is
pensive and well-f°unded. Conservatives should regard the NCLC
with hostility and should warn, and if necessary repudiate those
on the Right whom it has ensnared."

Since Rose's article appeared in March 1979, other evidence
to suggest that the LaRouche network is at a minimum supporting
some of Moscow's foreign policy goals has continued to mount
For example, m its August 6, 1981 issue, New Solidarity, the
principal LaRouche political publication, stated "One year ago
Poland was the lOth-ranking industrial nation in the world.
Today—after one year of destabilization by the British-infil-
trated Solidarity union— the country faces economic ruin, starva-
pi?n,^an2 soclf1jchaos----" m January 1982, commenting again on
l°lan^' New Solidarity called U.S. Secretary of State Alexander
Haig a leading spokesman for the forces Pravda charged are
seeking to provoke direct Soviet military intervention in Poland."

LaRouche network publications also frequently engage in
attacks on leading opponents of Soviet-inspired terrorism, includ-
ing such well-known experts in the field as Robert Moss and
Arnaud de Borchgrave and on leading anti-communist figures such
as the late Reps. John Ashbrook and Larry McDonald. More important
they have also on occasion attempted to obtain sensitive defense
information from contacts on Capitol Hill, and within the govern-
m^ Jl 2ne sPeciflc instance, a member of the LaRouche network
attempted to obtain from a member of the House Armed Services
Committeee staff the range of the U.S. cruise missile— one of
America's most sensitive military secrets.

10

Whether witting or unwitting, it remains clear that ulti-
mately the publications and rhetoric of the LaRouche network will
end up with positions that are favorable to the Soviet Union.
The fact that their positions are cloaked in ostensibly conserva-
tive rhetoric merely makes their pro-Soviet slant harder to
perceive. What remains true, however, is that their efforts in
the long run can only serve to further Soviet propaganda aims
within a sector of the population that Moscow could never reach
directly.

CONCLUSION

Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the LaRouche network is
its ability to adapt whatever coloration is best able to hide its
real nature at any given moment. Through its fronts and publica-
tions, it continues to influence thousands of Americans, who have
no inkling of the bizarre and viciously anti-Semitic conspiracy
theories that underlie its philosophy. Moreover, this tendency to
create a new front whenever it appears that a new issue has emerged
and can be capitalized on makes it necessary to remain ever watch-
ful for the latest of the cult's creations.

The persistent reports of high-level access and the continu-
ing, albeit obfuscated support of Soviet foreign policy goals
that are so much a part of LaRouche ' s rhetoric^ make his network
more than merely a fringe group that is essentially a nuisance.
At a minimum, its anti-Semitism is an affront to decency, and
its proclivity for- violence a threat to civil order. In the worst
case, it may well be the strangest asset for the KGB's disinforma-
tion effort.

Milton R. Copulos
Senior Policy Analyst